young wild & free
by The Siege
Summary: We are young, wild, and free. (I know we're better together.) Even if hardships come, they can't stop us. [nalu; college au; rated T for language]
1. begin, let's make history

**young wild & free**

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 **notes:** yes a new multichap nalu story! it's a college au because i'm so over high school. i was planning another nalu au where they worked at the same company, but i really like college aus so i'm doing this first. idk how long it's gonna be but my aim for this is a slow (but not too slow) and cute and realistic college love/friendship story. i'll be alternating povs; at least that's my current plan. nothing too exciting this chapter, sorry, just setting stuff up, but more meetings will happen next chapter, the party! :D enjoyyyyyyy! (i'm supposed to be studying for finals. lol.) title and summary are inspired by B.A.P lolol (i was just thinking about the essence of college and, well...)

 **disclaimer:** i do not own Fairy Tail. i also do not own "young wild  & free." or anything else that is widely recognized. i disclaim all following chapters as well. :D

* * *

 _one_

Lucy blew her bangs out of her eyes as she lugged her bags into the elevator, Capricorn following behind.

"Thanks," she huffed breathlessly and smiled at the man who had so diligently taken care of her since she was born. Capricorn simply nodded stoically, eyes forever hidden behind his dark sunglasses, but Lucy knew he was reluctant to leave her. She would miss him.

After a lifetime of private school, Lucy had finally experienced the public school life. The only reason her father allowed her to attend Magnolia University was because it boasted the best business program in the country. Distance and money were of no consequence. Personally, Lucy had been ecstatic to be so far away from home, though she was going to miss the household staff lots.

However, her first year at Magnolia University had been underwhelming, to say the least. She'd been paired with a horrible roommate and her classes, which had sounded so fun and interesting in the course catalog, were boring and time-consuming. She hadn't had much of a social life and was rather miserable.

Hopefully, sophomore year would be better.

She glanced at Capricorn over her shoulder one last time and couldn't help but throw herself at him, hugging him tightly. She felt his surprise but his arms surrounded her and patted her back comfortingly, as she knew he would.

"Thank you for everything, Capricorn," she mumbled into his immaculate white shirt. "I'm gonna miss you and everyone. Tell them for me, won't you?"

"Of course," he replied and Lucy was sure his voice was gentler than usual. "Are you sure you do not require my help with your belongings?"

Lucy shook her head and pulled back, smiling with teary eyes. "I got it. Be careful on your way home, okay?"

He nodded and watched as she stepped into the elevator and held up a hand in farewell as the doors closed. Lucy felt tears building up in her eyes and hastily wiped them away.

"Stop being dumb," she scolded herself. "You already did this last year!"

The elevator dinged on the third floor and she quickly dragged her things out. Following the signs on the walls, she grunted her way down the halls to Suite 337, which she would be sharing with seven other girls, though her actual room was only a double.

She hesitated for a long moment, sending a quick prayer up to her mother in heaven for better room-slash-suitemates this year before unlocking the door and yanking all of her bags inside.

There was a threadbare couch and a small wooden table in a small, common living space. Peering around inside, Lucy found four doors that made up the four doubles in the suite. Checking the letter on the doors, she found that her room was the one directly in front of the main door, 337A. She unlocked it and stepped in.

It was a cozy little room, with two beds, two desks, two dressers, and two closets stuffed inside. Noticing that her roommate had already chosen the bed furthest from the door, she immediately dumped all of her belongings on the empty bed. She explored a little longer, noticing that some of the rooms were open and had stuff inside, but none of the girls were there. Eventually, she went back to her room and began unpacking.

She had finally finished making her bed and flopped down on it to rest went voices grew louder and the door slammed open. She jumped up with a squeak and peered out the door to find four gorgeous girls laughing together. A sense of foreboding filled her and she bit her lip. Did all of the girls already know each other? Was she an outsider?

Panic ballooned in her chest but before she could go into full freak-out mode, the short blue-haired girl caught sight of her and offered an excited smile.

"Hey! Are you Lucy?" she asked as she approached.

Lucy nodded shyly and smiled. "You're Levy?"

"The one and only!" Levy grinned. "Meet Lisanna, Erza, and Mira!"

"Hi." Lucy waved awkwardly, blushing.

The two white-haired girls—were they sisters? They looked so similar and _so_ pretty—giggled and waved back. The long-haired one smiled and said, "It's great to meet you! I'm Mirajane, but everyone calls me Mira. Lisanna's my little sister, in case it's not obvious."

"My name is Erza. You are a sophomore, correct?" the beautiful red-haired girl asked.

Lucy nodded. "Um, w-what grades are all of you in?"

"I'm a sophomore too!" Levy said brightly.

Lisanna nodded. "Same!"

"Erza and I are seniors," Mira answered.

"Okay, I'm gonna go bond with my roommate now!" Levy stuck her tongue out playfully at the other girls and latched onto Lucy's arm, pulling her into their room. "Later!"

There was a chorus of dissent, but Levy just laughed and shut the door as Lucy sputtered in confusion.

"Hope you don't mind that I chose this side of the room," Levy said nervously and Lucy quickly dismissed her concerns.

"Oh no, it's totally fine! I like being close to the door anyway so it's perfect."

Levy set about unpacking and organizing her things while Lucy awkwardly sat on her bed.

"So, um, where are the other girls?" Lucy finally asked, desperate to break the silence.

"Not sure about Juvia. She's a junior transfer." Levy unearthed a huge stack of books that she piled onto her desk. "I think Bisca's with Alzack, as always…Cana is most likely drinking somewhere, also as always." Levy laughed.

"Oh. Do you…I mean, are you all…friends?"

"Oh yeah! All of us went to Fairy High together, except Juvia. There are _so many_ people from Fairy High here. We're kind of a feeder school for MagU." Levy poked out from behind her books and smiled at Lucy. "That reminds me! There's a back-to-school party tonight and I'm pretty sure all of my friends are gonna be there. Wanna come?"

Lucy was shocked by the invitation. She wanted to meet people but she didn't want to feel left out, which was likely since they were all friends already. "Oh! Um…I don't know, parties aren't really my kind of…yeah."

"Oh don't worry, me neither!" Levy's voice was muffled as she went back to digging into her suitcase. "I'm only going because all my friends are gonna be there. You should totally come and meet them! They're all kinds of crazy but they're good people and I'm pretty sure they'll love you. We can just hang out and, like, talk. I'm a huge bookworm so I mainly just like to talk about books."

Lucy cheered up instantly. "Me too! Who's your favorite author?"

Levy popped up from behind her books and stared at Lucy with wide eyes. "Zekua Melon. You?"

"No way, me too!" Lucy giggled. "What are the chances?"

"Oh my gosh, this is perfect! Okay, now you _have_ to come to the party and keep me company!" Levy squealed.

Lucy bit her lip, but agreed. "I-I guess…"

"Yes! Or—oh my gosh, I'm sorry, unless you wanna hang out with your friends! I totally didn't even think of that, I'm so sorry—"

"No, it's fine!" Lucy interrupted, blushing in humiliation. "I didn't…really make any friends last year. My roommate was awful and I kind of hated my classes too much to talk to the people in them."

Levy laughed. "I totally feel you. I'm just lucky so many of my high school friends are here too or I would've been a complete loner."

Lucy smiled and felt the knot in her chest loosen. Sophomore year was looking better already.

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© Copyright 2015 by The Siege


	2. burn up this youth

**young wild & free**

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 **notes:** double update because i'm procrastinating and because nothing too exciting is happening yet lol. talk to me people! lemme know what's good and what's not! also yes, fermentation science is a real major, though only in a few schools, i believe, like oregon state uni. hahahaha I DID RESEARCH

* * *

 _two_

Natsu sipped his cheap beer, grimacing a little at the taste but swallowing it down anyway. Beer at college parties really paled in comparison to Cana's special brews and now that he was used to high-quality beer, the cheap stuff just wasn't cutting it anymore.

"Ugh, this shit is nasty." Gray gagged next to him, somehow missing his shirt.

Cana chugged another cup of beer and wiped her mouth, chuckling. "Yeah, this is shit, alright. I shoulda brought some of my own booze."

Natsu and Gray chorused their agreement before glaring at each other reflexively.

"Hey, where is everyone?" Natsu asked, looking around for their friends.

Gray pointed around. "Loke's flirtin' his ass off, Mest bailed, Alzack's prob'ly with Bisca, Elfman's already passed out, Jet and Droy are waiting on Levy, Jellal's not here yet, and the girls are late, as usual. Oh wait, there they are." He nodded at the door.

Natsu looked and grinned at the sight of his friends. He waved enthusiastically, ready to jump up and race over to greet them when he noticed a stranger with them.

She was blonde and curvy, dressed in a tight shirt and a short skirt, and she looked laughably out of place. The discomfort was written all over her face. She looked like an average sorority girl, all party and no substance, aka boring. He watched as her attention was snagged by Levy and a shy smile spread across her lips.

And then he suddenly thought: _Wait, she's pretty_.

She was pretty in a way that was different from Mira's elegance, Erza's ferocity, Lisanna's sweetness, and even Levy's cuteness; she possessed a understated sort of beauty that dimmed beside Mira or Erza, but if he squinted and focused on her when she smiled, it was blinding.

Gray whistled. "Who's that? She's hot."

Natsu glared at his friend-slash-arch-rival, who was fiddling with his fly. "Keep yer pants on, stripper."

Gray cursed and began searching for his shirt.

"Here!" A girl with long blue hair popped up out of nowhere with Gray's shirt draped lovingly over her hands. Natsu almost spilled his beer on his scarf out of shock.

"Oh! Wow, okay! Uh, thanks, I guess." Gray took the shirt and slipped it on, smiling uncomfortably at the girl who was obviously smitten with him.

Natsu snorted.

"Natsu! Gray!"

Hearing his name, he turned around and smiled automatically at the sight of his best friend. "Lisanna! You're late!"

She rolled her eyes and pulled him into a hug before moving onto Gray. "We were waiting on Erza, of course. Come meet Levy's new roommate!" She grabbed both him and Gray and dragged them through the crowd of sweaty bodies to the group of girls laughing by the door. "Luigi, meet Natsu and Gray!"

The blonde girl—Luigi was such a weird name for a girl, Natsu thought—turned to them and smiled shyly, tucking her hair behind her ear. "Hi. Nice to meet you."

Natsu grinned and Gray smiled and said, "You too! You a sophomore too?"

She nodded.

Before anyone could say anything else, Levy grabbed her arm and, after nodding hello to Natsu and Gray, eagerly pulled her away to meet Jet and Droy.

"She's cute," Gray said, his eyes following after Luigi. The weird blue-haired girl began wailing and flung herself dramatically onto a couch before jumping away in disgust when she noticed the couple making out next to her.

Natsu rolled his eyes and watched as Loke spotted her and tried to hit on her. He snickered when she yanked her hand away from Loke's lips and stomped away, enjoying Loke's crestfallen expression.

It seemed like all the girls already liked her, so there had to be more to her than he thought. Maybe he'd try to talk to her later.

* * *

 _Later_ turned out to be in fifteen minutes, when he went to get a refill of shitty beer and found her fidgeting awkwardly on the edge of the crowd, alone and uncertain.

"Hey, Luigi!" he shouted over the din.

She smiled at him for a second before her face turned confused. "Did you just…call me Luigi?"

He tilted his head. "Yeah? That's you name, right?"

"No, it's _Lucy_."

"Oh. Well, Lucy, Luigi, close enough." Natsu shrugged but grinned, to let her know he was kidding.

She rolled her eyes but then seemed to realize something and blushed, diverting her gaze. "Um, you're Natsu, right?"

He nodded enthusiastically. "That's my name, don't wear it out! Want some beer?" He held up his red SOLO cup.

She shook her head, glancing between him and the cup. "Um, I'm underage."

"So am I! It's a party, live a little!"

She glanced at his cup again and shook her head firmly. "No, I don't drink."

He shrugged and tossed his cup. "Eh, whatever. The beer tastes like shit anyway. If you ever wanna drink, you gotta try Cana's beer. She's been brewing beer forever, so she makes the good stuff." He nodded sagely.

She raised an eyebrow. "I'll keep that in mind. What is she studying?"

"Fermentation science or some shit. She's really into beer."

"I can tell." Lucy giggled.

Natsu's lips twitched upward at the cute sound.

"So what're you studying?" he asked, curious about her.

"Oh, um, business." She looked oddly embarrassed about it.

"That's cool."

"No, it's really not." She shook her head. "My father wants me to study it so I can take over his business later."

"Your dad's forcing you?" He frowned. "That's mean. You should do what you want."

Lucy sighed. "It's not that simple. Anyway, I'm planning to double with English and minor in astronomy without him knowing so." She shrugged.

Natsu's eyebrows were in his hairline. "Wow, that's a lot! Why English and astronomy?"

"Oh, uh, well, I'm kinda into writing." She ducked her head shyly.

"Like, books?"

She nodded and he couldn't hold back his admiring whistle. She laughed and shook her head. "I'm not that good, I just like it. But I also like reading and stuff, so, you know, English." She smiled nostalgically. "And astronomy is because of my mom. She was really into it and she taught me a little about it and got me interested."

Natsu noticed the use of past tense when she talked about her mom, but didn't know if he should ask. She seemed to notice though because she quickly added, "Yeah, she's gone. And don't worry, it was a long time ago, so I'm okay now."

"I'm sorry," he said anyway, and was rewarded with a grateful smile.

"Oh my gosh, I've just been talking about myself!" Her face turned red and Natsu had to laugh. "Okay, it's your turn! What are you studying?"

"I'm a chem nerd," he stated proudly, grinning. "I'm good at blowing stuff up."

She laughed. "Very impressive! I'm jealous, I sucked at chem in high school. Actually, I'm just bad at science in general."

"Chem is pretty much the only thing that makes sense to me," Natsu admitted. "I suck at literally everything else." She didn't look like she believed him. "Really. I'll even show you my grades."

"Alright, I'll take your word for it." Lucy's eyes strayed from him to somewhere over his shoulder and he turned around to find a shirtless Gray approaching with a sobbing girl behind him.

"Hey! Lucy, right?" Gray asked with a charming smile when he was close enough.

Lucy nodded with flaming cheeks. "Um, yeah, but why are you shirtless?"

"Aw man, not again!" Gray groaned. "Whatever, I give up."

"He's a compulsive stripped," Natsu stage-whispered and Lucy hummed in understanding, though she still couldn't quite look Gray in the eyes without blushing.

"Love rival!" the crying girl shrieked, pointing at Lucy accusingly. "How dare you flirt with Gray-sama!"

Lucy looked bewildered before pointing at herself. "Me? I'm—I'm not—"

"Lies!"

Lucy looked helplessly at Natsu, who simply shook his head. "No idea."

Gray sighed. "This is Juvia. She's a junior transfer."

"Oh!" Lucy's eyes lit up. "You're Juvia! You're rooming with Lisanna, right?"

Juvia nodded slowly, though she still eyed Lucy suspiciously.

Lucy smiled warmly. "It's nice to meet you."

Juvia squeaked and fled to a corner, where she immediately began freaking out at a huge, heavily-pierced guy with a mane of black hair.

"Ohhhhh-kay." Gray turned back to Lucy and smiled. "So what's your major?"

Natsu snorted. "Yer late, stripper, we just finished talkin' 'bout school. Sucks to suck!"

"Shut up, idiot!" Gray shoved Natsu one-handed and moved closer to Lucy, blocking Natsu from the conversation.

Lucy snickered softly at the display. "How long have you two been friends?"

"Forever, unfortunately." Gray rolled his eyes.

"I'm jealous. I was rarely allowed out of the house as a kid." Lucy sighed. "My father's kind of strict."

"Gray, you fucker!" Natsu came barreling back, knocking Gray into the table and spilling all of the beer. Everyone groaned and complained.

"What the fuck, Natsu!" Gray got up and launched himself at Natsu and things only deteriorated from there.

Soon, everyone was either fighting or fleeing the party. Lucy stood on the side, slack-jawed.

Levy appeared randomly at her side some time later and shook her head hopelessly. "Sorry, Lu. This is what happens when you put a bunch of Fairy High kids together."

Lucy laughed incredulously. "Well, it's, uh, lively."

"Hm, yeah." Levy giggled. "Well, party' basically over now. Let's go!"

Natsu looked up in the middle of pounding Loke in the gut, just in time to see Lucy look back over her shoulder. Their eyes met and he grinned wildly at her. She smiled hesitantly back before slipping out of the door and then a fist flew into Natsu's face, distracting him once more.

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© Copyright 2015 by The Siege


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